Onasanya Trial Update (1)

The trial of Fiona Onasanya - Labour MP accused of perverting the course of justice - is currently underway at the Central Criminal Court in London.

This is an interesting case, the brief circumstances of which are as follows:

• A Nissan Micra registered to Onasanya was caught by a speed camera travelling at 41 mph in a 30 mph zone at Thorney, Cambridgeshire. The camera was activated just after 10 pm on the evening of 24th July 2017.
• Onasanya identified the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence as Aleks Antipow.
• The prosecution case is that Onasanya herself was driving at the time of the offence and has wrongly named Antipow as driver in order to escape punishment.

The prosecution has spent this first week outlining its case, brief snippets of which are:

• Mr Antipow was at his parents' home in Russia at the time Onasanya says he was driving her vehicle in Thorney.
• Cell site data places both of Onasanya's mobile phones in the Thorney area at the time her vehicle activated the speed camera.
• Onasanya's former aide, Dr Christian DeFeo, has given evidence to the effect that the newly elected MP attended his property, in the Thorney area, at about the same time as the camera was activated by her vehicle. He confirms that she was driving the vehicle and was alone when it arrived at his property.

The trial has been adjourned until 10 am on Monday morning, at which time the defence will start presenting its case. A verdict is expected by the end of next week.

It is definitely worth keeping an eye on this one.